Two WFU chemistry professors named 2008 AAAS Fellows

December 18, 2008

Wake Forest University faculty members Mark Welker, William L. Poteat Professor of Chemistry and associate provost for faculty affairs, and Dilip Kondepudi, Thurman D. Kitchin Professor of Chemistry, have been elected as 2008 Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

Kondepudi was elected for his contributions to the field of non-equilibrium chemistry, particularly the field of chiral asymmetry, and as the co-author of the book “Modern Thermodynamics.” He joined the Wake Forest faculty in 1987 and holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from Madras University, a master’s degree in physics from Indian Institute of Technology and a doctorate in physics from the University of Texas at Austin.

Welker was elected for his contributions to the field of organometallic chemistry, particularly for metal-mediated cyclization and cycloaddition reactions. He joined the Wake Forest faculty in 1987 and served as associate provost for research from 2003 to July 2008, when he became associate provost for faculty affairs. Welker holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a doctorate in chemistry from Florida State University.

AAAS, founded in 1848, is the world’s largest general scientific society. Its 262 affiliated societies and academies of science serve 10 million individuals. Fellows are nominated for the honor by their peers and elected by the organization’s governing council. This year, 486 members have been awarded the rank of Fellow because of their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications. New fellows will be announced Dec. 19 in the journal Science, published by the AAAS, and recognized Feb. 14 during the association’s annual meeting in Chicago.